our first ministry day here in trujillo starts off with a word that sort of makes me cringe. evangelism.
even though i hate the word assigned to the task, i don’t hate the actual ministry. yes, it’s going into the community and knocking on doors. but it's also offering hope. it’s listening to people’s stories and meeting them where they are. offering a kind word, an act of service, or maybe some food. what do you need and how can we help? how can we help meet real needs in tangible ways?
one of our teams meets a man who’s wife has recently died, leaving him with three children under the age of 15. he doesn’t know how to be a mother to these kids or how to cook for them. he says they’re all heartbroken and struggling. the team prays for him and makes plans to come back with food and help him learn how to cook some basic things. and maybe while they’re helping in this small way, as they build relationship with this family, they can walk in this brokenness with them and offer hope.
we meet several different people while we are out, but my heart instantly connects with ceci (short for cecilia). she answers the door at the last home we stop by. she’s 19 and beautiful and smiling. for some reason i feel like God’s telling me she’s an orphan and she’s deeply hurting. we begin talking to her and sharing a little bit with her about what we’re doing here and how incalink exists here to help the community. she tells us about how she’s not really sure about christian groups. she says she tried to find God once but that it didn’t work out. she says she’s spent her whole life running away from all the people who have hurt her and that she doesn’t even live at this house where she answered the door. she begins crying. she says she’s tried to kill herself. we speak life to her and tell her that God sees her and has so many plans and promises for her life. she says that she wants that and wants the hope Jesus has to offer. we pray with her and hug her and make plans to come back and spend time with her.
as we’re leaving, she faints on the front porch and starts convulsing. my heart drops. what is happening!? tony runs up the stairs and picks her up to carry her inside. her aunt runs over from out of no where. i guess she was next door. i feel so confused and helpless and people are yelling. her aunt grabs daniel and in tears tells him that this happens to her all the time because of the extreme trauma she’s faced. she says ceci was abandoned by her mother and raped by her father. my heart is broken for her. she is an orphan.
“He defends the cause of the fatherless…” deut 10:18
“defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed” psalm 82:3
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” john 14:18
despite my deep heartache for ceci, i have hope because i know that God has so many promises for orphans. He says that He sets the lonely in families. this is just the beginning of her story. i want to be a part of it as long as i can. so i make plans to go back and see her on tuesday and invite her to lunch. i’m looking forward to our time together and any chance i have to show this sweet girl that she is so loved.
